All Kings are Appointed by God
All Kings are Appointed by God
First, we must know that this whole world is created by God. He "lives forever; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation" (Daniel 4:33).
Therefore, God is the only one who has the right to assign kingship of the Earth, and all kings are appointed by Him. The word "king" here is only used to refer to kings appointed by the Lord, and any other rulers who have come to power by military conquests or through their own election schemes will not be considered.
And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings. Daniel 2:21
History of Kingship on Earth
1. Adam
The first king on Earth was Adam. He was created by God to be a king. After his creation, Adam was immediately given dominion over everything on the Earth.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26
This kingship assigned to Adam is permanent because there was no death at that time. However, Adam sinned and was driven out of the Garden of Eden. It was like a prince who has been driven out of the King's palace. Even though he is still a prince by birth, he has lost his authority and creations no longer have any respect for him.
Without a king, the world became more and more corrupted, and it was finally destroyed by God through a Great Flood.
2. Abraham
After the Flood, some descendants of the only survivors in Noah's family strived to become kings on the Earth. However, "As it is written, none is righteous; no, not one" (Romans 3:10). The world was full of idolatry at that time, and Adam's kingship was finally given to Abraham who was counted as righteous by his faith. (See "What Blessing Did Melchizedek Give to Abraham?")
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Romans 4:3
3. David, Descendant of Judah
Out of the descendants of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, the line of Judah (fourth son of Jacob) was chosen to receive this kingship. Judah's descendant David became king, and the world feared the nation of Israel because of their God Yahweh.
However, David sinned almost immediately after he ascended the throne. He took the wife of a righteous man and murdered him to cover his crime. His kingdom in Israel soon fell apart, and finally, the nation totally perished after fourteen generations.
4. Gentile Kings
After the nation of Israel was subjugated, God passed this kingship of the Earth to a Gentile - Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon. The promise that God gave to Nebuchadnezzar was the same as the one given to Adam, showing that Adam's kingship has been passed onto Nebuchadnezzar. Jews were also taken captives to Babylon.
In your (Nebuchadnezzar's) hands He has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, He has made you ruler over them all. Daniel 2:38
After the reign of Babylon, kingship was given to Cyrus, the king of Persia. King Cyrus made the following declaration in 2 Chronicles 36:23
Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 2 Chronicles 36:23
After the reign of Persia, kingship was taken over by Greece. The Bible did not specify who has received kingdom from the Lord after Cyrus, but we know that the world was under rulership of Gentiles until the time of Jesus.
5. Jesus
After fourteen generations, Jesus, the last Adam, and the sinless Adam was born.
When God created the world, Adam has been given dominion over everything on the Earth, and this assignment is permanent. However, since Adam and all his descendants have sinned, no one was able to exercise this God given authority.
This situation all changed when Jesus came into this world. As the last Adam, Jesus is the rightful heir of this kingship. And being sinless, He has the right to take it back. The Kingship of the Earth was then restored to Jesus, and therefore also to the Adamic race.
One thing to note is, when Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and tempted Jesus to worship him, he actually had the authority to do so (Matthew 4:8-9). Satan did not steal this from Adam as proposed by some scholars. Satan had the rights because kingship of the Earth had been given to Gentile kings at that time, and it was then passed onto Satan somewhere along the line.
6. Disciples of Jesus
After this kingship has been restored to Jesus, He almost immediately gave it to His disciples. At the Last Supper, Jesus gave them His Body and Blood (Matthew 26:26-28). Then after His resurrection, He breathed on them to give them the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).
Just like Adam, disciples of Jesus have now been newly created (born again) through receiving a new Body and a new Spirit. And just like Adam, dominion has been immediately given to them to rule in the New Heaven and Earth. Since all our sins have been washed away by the Blood of Jesus, we have now become eligible to inherit this New Kingdom of God as a "sinless Adam", and exercise our God given authority again.
Yes, Kingship of the Earth has already been given to Disciples of Jesus.
Some may ask, how come most Christians still feel so powerless? It is because the Body of Christ is often not connected to the Head. Apostle Paul said "we have the Mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16), but how much authority we can exercise still depends on how much connection we have with the Mind.
The Number FOURTEEN
When God gave kingship of the Earth to Adam, this assignment was meant to be permanent. After Adam lost it, this kingship was assigned to three different rulers as described above. However, there seems to be a time limit to these temporary assignments, and the number is FOURTEEN.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. Matthew 1:17
Compare this to the age of Abraham's two sons, Ishmael and Issac. Following the suggestion of Abraham's wife Sarah, Abraham had a son Ishmael with Sarah's maid servant Hagar at the age of 86. Fourteen years later at 100, Issac who is the rightful heir to God's promise was born.
So, the illegitimate heir Ishmael was the only son of Abraham for fourteen years. After that, the legitimate heir Issac was born who would then take his father's inheritance.